In recent years, the world has been struck by frequent meteorological disasters. Even in 2019, torrential rain hit worldwide and caused major damage. From July to October 2019 meanwhile, heavy rain centered on India caused a major disaster and claimed 2,300 or more lives. The total precipitation in August and September 2019 for India was the highest since 1983 and ended up as record-breaking heavy rainfall. Even in Japan, starting from the July 2017 Northern Kyushu Torrential Rain and the Heavy Rain Event of July 2018, recent torrential rain caused major damage. Even in 2019, torrential rain, including disasters caused by Typhoons Hagibis in 2019, left major damage.
The yearly average temperature in 2019 was higher than normal over much of the world and extreme high temperatures occurred throughout, including the north-eastern portion of East Asia. Even in Japan, high temperatures continued nationwide and the yearly average was the highest ever recorded since records began in 1898. While as a generalrule, extreme weather is a phenomenon which is very different from the phenomena experienced in the past and something rarely experienced, it is pointed out that extreme weather may proliferate worldwide due to climate change such as global warming.
For this purpose, the "Special Feature" of the 2020 White Paper on Disaster Management covers catastrophic and frequent torrential rain.
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